


The Disquietude Of Space

by theprinceoflucis



Category: Halo (Video Games) & Related Fandoms
Genre: Angst, Drabble, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt, Hurt/Comfort, If You Squint - Freeform, Injury, M/M, Mourning, implied master chief x arbiter, neither of them know how to deal with their feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:22:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25978915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theprinceoflucis/pseuds/theprinceoflucis
Summary: without her, something’s missing
Relationships: John-117 | Master Chief & Thel 'Vadam | The Arbiter
Kudos: 22





	The Disquietude Of Space

_ high charity. what a mess _ . 

The thought bounced around his skull, sending shockwaves of pure pain down every nerve it hit. And for a few moments he almost expected to receive a snarky reply from cortana but upon being greeted with complete silence his heart dropped so much he fell to his knees. 

_ Cortana isn’t here anymore.  _

_ she’s gone… _

_ she’s-  _

“Demon?” 

The gruff voice called out to him, in an attempt to disrupt the chief's train of thought. A hint of concern present in his voice. The arbiter had developed a bond with the so-called demon over the past few months. The end of life as you know it has a habit of bringing people together. 

_ I left her behind. _

_ I abandoned her.. _

He didn’t hear the arbiter calling out to him, he merely stared down at his hands gently moving his fingertips, trying to come to grips with the huge part of him that seemed to be absent. 

Perhaps he had not heard? Or perhaps the demon was ignoring him? Completely unsure which of the two was more likely he tried again a little louder, emphasising his presence by gently placing his hand on the small of the chiefs back. Getting pistol whipped on the right side of his mandibles was not the reaction he had expected from expressing concern to his… friend. 

The spartan hadn’t thought about the action, muscle memory, a reaction years of battle had burned into his mind. as he spun round in a defensive stance and saw the sanghelli cradling his face he stood up straight and sighed. 

“Sorry” was the only word he could force from his throat. Too caught up in the loss of cortana to form a coherent sentence. 

Thel’s expression looked almost angry for a few moments before softening as he took a step closer towards the trembling super soldier. He slowly extended his hand towards the master chief's helmet, intending to reach for the release latch on the left side to get the helmet off so he could breathe easier, the demon always struggled to get it off himself in these situations. 

Quickly taking a step to the side and raising his arm to meet the arbiters and prevent the sanghelli touching him. 

“what are you doing?“ it was clear from the tone of his voice alone that he was gritting his teeth behind his helmet. 

“I’m merely taking your helmet off.” Thel replied in the calmest tone he could muster. something was amiss with this situation. the demon had never reacted like this before. and he had never seen him tremble from anything less than a severe physical injury. 

“demon. are you hurt?” 

“no.” the chief replied while slowly lowering his arm and allowing Thel to reach for the clasp to release his helmet. As the sanghelli slowly began to lift his helmet off the spartan went into a coughing fit and shoved the arbiter away slightly while holding his other hand to his chest. 

“is something wrong?” the concern in his voice was far more obvious this time. 

“can I help?” he truly did not know what to do this time. 

John waved his hand and after a few more seconds of spluttering he placed his hands on his knees and gasped for his breath. 

“ pressure change. my ribs are broken and it-“ he descended into a coughing fit again and threw his helmet at the sanghelli who caught it with ease while staring at the chief with intent concern. 

“Have your injuries from the fall not healed yet?” he questioned while spinning the helmet slightly and looking at the slot where Cortana was meant to be and poked at it gently, he had read that human ai’s did not last as long as the covenants. only a handful of years, what would the demon do when she was gone ? 

“we told you to rest more but-“ 

“but I refused and said i’m fine because i am. they’ll heal in a few days” master chief cut the arbiter off in retaliation, he usually did heal extremely fast. 

“Demon you may be powerful however you are not invincible. one day if you push yourself too far…” thel allowed his voice to trail off. not wanting to think about losing his only friend. 

“and I'll get myself killed? You sound just like cortana” 


End file.
